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Iturns out the manager could survive a loss to lower-league opposition. He weathered a decisive continental showpiece versus a particularly poor Tottenham teams in living memory. He withstood home defeats against domestic rivals, a lowly league position, his rigid approach, laying waste to the team's best homegrown talent, the 32% win rate, labeling his team the poorest in Manchester United history. But there was a single opponent against whom the Portuguese coach was not permitted to dance. You come at Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Unfortunately, similar to numerous Premiership right-back during Blackburn Rovers' championship campaign, Amorim took on the executive and seems to have failed. Even the most distracted of readers will notice the irony here: a manager who frequently berated his squad for failing in one-on-one duels succumbing in the face of the white heat and formidable presence of a England's top division's most feared football executives.

In truth, this whole bruising episode seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. Perhaps it might have been easy, given his nine months in a similar role at Southampton, to regard him as merely a functionary in the United exoskeleton: a man whose appointment was due as much to his close relationship with his former boss Omar Berrada as any verifiable talent. How wrong everyone was. In brilliantly outsmarting United’s feted head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate Dan Ashworth before him, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated as one of football's strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect that the club's competitors are now rightly wary.

A Strategic Clash Over Formation & Ideology

For example, it was Jason Wilcox who having been part of the hierarchy that appointed the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim originally, was instrumental in trying to persuade Amorim to abandon his beloved 3-4-3. Unsurprisingly, these pleas met a certain resistance. However, these judgements carry more weight when issued from the mouth of a man the impeccable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, holder of three England caps and a contributor to a championship team from 31 years ago.

Maybe eventually Jason Wilcox might agree to explain his thought processes publicly. Maybe one day he might be asked regarding why the coach is departing with full compensation, with no penalty clause in place. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely publicly, and with very good reason. The true intellectuals of this sport – individuals such as Jason Wilcox – function at a level exceeding our prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, most likely all we would hear is a series of ultrasonic blips and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not the same as being prepared to comprehend it.

An Ultimate Authority In the Throne

But of course, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we overlook the true genius behind the club's current leadership. The director is, in reality, merely executing the directives of his ultimate superior the billionaire owner, who in private has made very clear his preference for a back four. According to reports, the owner has also suggested deploying the forward in a wing-back role. Ratcliffe is keen for the club to adopt analytics and metrics. Per reports, during a leadership summit soon after his investment, he announced that United’s style of play “shall be decided by this group”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is an expert in this technical footballing stuff, drawing from his background in petrochemicals and sailing. Most importantly he remains incredibly rich, and it is known, the wealthy are superior: more perceptive, sagacious, strategically brilliant, simply superior. Who else could one trust to manage an enlightened programme of cost-cutting, the building of a new stadium that looks a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of Benjamin Sesko?

The New Soccer Order: Directors Above Coaches

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels football. For decades, clubs foolishly entrusted major sporting choices to subordinate staff like managers, talent spotters – players themselves. Maybe previously feasible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with ideas and drive to join a club and implement their plan supported to fruition. Yet how many businesses have such individuals established? What number of mass redundancies have they overseen? Better by far to place genuine authority where it rightly belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the guys with impressive LinkedIn profiles. It is wiser to decide the tactics in the boardroom and appoint someone who can tailor their offering accordingly. If managers were once chefs, they are now more akin to delivery personnel: not responsible for the food, yet finally accountable if it arrives cold or fails of the box.

Nowadays, their job is increasingly less about defining the vision and more about marketing it: the receptionist of the operation, the public face for a club they can do little to change. A coach at Chelsea takes a squad of literal children into Europe and wins two medium-sized trophies, and effectively is dismissed for talking. Wilfried Nancy finds his reputation ruined while the people who hired him continue to make errors indefinitely.

The Neoliberal Game: Responsibility Only for the Few

And perhaps in a small way this is simply corporate governance at work: the rise of a privileged overclass who can never be wrong, whose choices remain untouchable, whose errors can invariably be sacked away without explanation. Hire the 3-4-3 coach only to fire him for playing excessively that system. Bring in the process guy and later bin him for requiring excessive time. And above all show gratitude; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for the latest summer signings, for the fact that the grownups – regardless of their expertise – remain in control.